Bracket and display device



DeC- 13, 1966 D. M. GANZ ETAL BRACKET AND DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Dec. 8, 1965 United States Patent Ofilice 329km? Patented Dec.. I3, i966 3,291,077 BRACKET AND DISPLAY DEVICE Baniel M. Ganz, Rockville Centre, and Harold il. Mahler, New York, NSY., assigner-s to Dai-rol Company, Inc., lNew York, NY., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 512,298 5 Claims. (Cl. IGS-lil) The present invention relates generally to shelf and display devices and particularly to an improved display rack structure which may be supported either on conventional vertical shelf standards `or on conventionally perforated wall board of the type generally marketed by the trademark Peg Board.

It has been known that display trays such as greeting card display racks can be supported by a pair of brackets which, in turn can be secured to conventional vertical standards. These brackets advantageously are a combination of two pivotally interconnected members which enable the display tray to be tilted between a Vertical and an inclined position thereby to vary the angle of view of the greeting cards displayed therein. This construction is exemplified by the disclosure of U.S. patent No. 3,162,148, issued on December 22, 1964, and entitled, Adjustable Display Device.

Although this type of structure has achieved a signiiicant measure of success, there are many instances in modern retailing wherein perforated board arrangements are more feasible than are vertical shelf standards. For example, in many retail establishments, the walls are provided with a perforated board covering such that the retailer can easily vary his several displays by the use of conventional attachments to the perforated board. Although perforated board wall arrangements are quite cornmon in the greeting card retailing industry, there has heretofore been no elongated greeting rack which could be easily secured to the perforated board and which could function in the manner of the device specified in the aforementioned patent. Furthermore, since a large proportion of the display fixtures for the greeting card trade are made with vertical standards, it is desirable to have a display tray or rack which may be installed either on perforated wall board or on vertical standards.

Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a display structure which may be mounted either on conventional vertical shelf standards or on conventional perforated wall board.

It is further within the contemplation of the present invention to provide a tiltable card display structure which may be secured either to vertical shelf standards or to perforated Wall board.

In accordance with one presently preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, there is provided a greeting card display assembly. which can be mounted either on a perforated wall board of the type having a plurality of holes formed in a uniform rectangular array or, on pairs of vertical standards of the type having a vertically disposed series of uniformally spaced, vertically elongated openings. The display assembly comprises a display tray for receipt of the greeting cards which has front, bottom and rear walls and which is provided with a pair of brack* ets at either end of the tray for mounting same either on wall board or vertical standards. Each of the brackets includes a first member attached to the tray and a second member having a rear edge and duplex attachment means along the rear edge for attachment to the wall board and standard. Pivot means are provided interconnecting the first and second bracket members in order to allow the tray to be tilted and indexing means are provided to hold the tray in selected positions of tilted adjustment. The duplex attachment means at the rear edge of the second bracket member include a lower section which has a land portion extending rearwardly from the rear edge and a hook portion extending downwardly from the land portion. An upper section of the duplex attachment means has a land portion extending rearwardly from the rear edge in an amount substantially equal to the lower section land portion and an elongated retainer portion extending upwardly from the upper section land portion. The lower edge of the land portion of the upper and lower sections are spaced approximately one inch from each other to correspond to the spacings of conventional perforated wall board and the spacing lof conventional vertical standards. The hook portion of the lower section is for preventing outward movement of the lower part of a greeting card display from the support upon which it is mounted and the retainer portion is for preventing outward movement of the upper portion of the greeting card display assembly from such support.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be best appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of one illustrative embodiment, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of a portion of the greeting card display assembly and particularly a view of a two-part bracket shown with respect to a typical vertical standard and with respect to the back of a greeting card display tray;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational View, partly in section, illustrating the mounting of a display -assembly in accordance with the present invention on a conventional vertical standard;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 2 showing the display assembly mounted on the standard;

FIGURE 4 is a View similar to that of FIGURE 3 showing the two portions of the mounting bracket rotated such that greeting cards may be displayed in a tilted orientation;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of one end of the mounting assembly secured to a conventional perforated wall board;

FIGURE 6 is a View generally similar to FIGURE 3, however, showing the device mounted on a perfor-ated wall board rather than a vertical standard; and

FIGURE 7 4is a sectional view taken along the line 7*'7 of FIGURE 6 looking in the direction yof the arrows illustrating the tilting and indexing mechanism of the assembly.

Now referring specifically to the drawings, there is shown in FIGURE 2 an end view of a display assembly, generally designated by the numeral It), which includes an elongated display tray 12 and a two-member mounting bracket 14. The tray 12 has a front wall 16 (which may be of transparent material), a bottom wall 18 and a rear wall 20 arranged in rectangular orientation and secured with appropriate end braces 22 in order to provide an appropriate tray for the display of greeting cards. The tray 12 is secured to the bracket M by nut and bolts 24 or other conventional fastening means. A tray-mounting portion 26 on the bracket member 1.a is provided to facilitate this attachment and appropriate holes 28, 3) are provided in the rear wall Ztl of the tray and the tray-mounting portion 26 of the bracket 14 respectively.

The mechanism of the bracket assembly 14 provides means for tilting the tray 12 with respect to the vertical support upon which the display assembly l@ is mounted. Specifically, the bracket llt includes a first member 32 for securement to the tray I2 and a second member 34 for securement to the vertical support. (In FIGURES l through 4 a vertical shelf standard is shown as the support, while in FIGURES 5 through 7, the bracket is shown on conventional perforated wall board.) The two elements are constructed of a flat material such as sheet metal and are pivotally interconnected as pivot 36 (see FIGURE 7). As may Ibe seen by comparing FIGURES 3 and 4, the first member 32 may be tilted with respect to the second member 34 thereby to tilt the tray 12 with respect to the mounting support. An indexing mechanism 38 is provided between the first and second members 32, 34 and basically includes a spring-loaded pin 40 in an appropriate housing 42 mounted on the second member 34 and a plurality of indexing openings 44 formed in the rst member 32. The spring-loaded pin 40 may be depressed by finger pressure and the members rotated with respect to each other to a new location at which time the pin will protrude through one of the other indexing openings 44 to maintain the display tray in a desired orientation.

Although the overall shape of the respective first and second members 32, 34 are relatively unimportant, the particular shape of the rear of the second member 34 is of crucial importance. It is at the heart of our invention that the means for mounting the bracket are such that the `bracket may be mounted either upon a vertical standard or upon a perforated wall board. The second member 34 has a rear edge 46 which, when the brackets are mounted on either wall boards or standards, are engaged flush against those support units. Duplex attachment means extend from the rear edge 46 and comprise a lower section 48 and an upper section 50. The lower section 4S has a first land portion 52 having a downwardly facing loading edge 54 and a downwardly extending hook portion 56 projecting beyond the land portion 52. The length of the land portion 52 and the bearing surface 54 is approximately equal to the thickness of perforated wall board (on the order of one-eighth of an inch). The upper section 50 of the duplex attachment means has a land portion 58, which has a bearing surface 60 at its downwardly facing edge, and an elongated vertically extending retainer portion 62 extending upwardly from the land portion 58. The length of the retainer portion 62 is greater than the vertical length of the openings in the conventional standards, i.e. it is on the order of threequarters of an inch. The thickness of the retainer portion 62 and of the land portion, and also the thickness of the combined hook portion 56 land land portion 52 of the lower section 48 are less than the diameter of the openings in conventional perforated wall board.

In order to appreciate the duplex functional aspects of the bracket 14, a description of the process of mounting a bracket in accordance with the invention on a conventional vertical standard and on a conventional perforated wall board will be given. In FIGURE 1 there is shown a conventional vertical standard, generally designated by the numeral 64, which has cut into its front face a plurality of evenly spaced, vertically extending slots 66. The well-known mounting means for such standards comprise a bracket which has a pair of vertically evenly spaced, downwardly extending hooks. The lower hook engages a rst slot `66 and the upper hook engages the next upwardly adjacent slot in order to give the bracket a two-point seeurement to the standard 64. The bracket 12 of the greeting card display assembly in accordance with the present invention is secured to the vertical standard as is generally illustrated in FIGURE 2. The entire assembly is tilted so that the retaining member 62 is at an angle to the front face of the standard 60 and the retainer 62 is then passed into an upper one of two slots. The unit is moved toward the top of that slot so that the lower edge of the hook 56 of the lower section passes above the bottom of the next lower vertical slot. As seen in FIGURE 3, the lower section 48, and specically the hook portion thereof, holds the bracket 14 at against the standard while the weight of the unit is supported by the bearing surface 54 of the land portion 52. Similarly, the retainer portion 62 of the upper section 50 holds the upper portion of the bracket 14 against the standard 64.

Thus, the display assembly 10 is rigidly supported on the standard.

In a generally similar manner, the display assembly 10 may be mounted on a perforated wall board. This is illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6. In FIGURE 5 there is illustrated a portion of a piece of wall board 68 which is provided with a rectangular array of openings 70. The standard spacing for such openings is one inch on centers which generally corresponds to the standard spacing between similar points of the slots of vertical standards. In mounting the display assembly 10 on the perforated wall board 68, the elongated retaining member 62 is first inserted into an upper opening and then the hook 56 of the lower section 48 is inserted into the next adjacent lower opening of the wall board 68. The bracket is pushed against the front surface of the wall board such that the rear edge 46 of the bracket 14 is flush therewith. The hook 56 performs the same function as is the case with a standard, i.e. it keeps the lower edge of the bracket 14 against the wall board and the bearing surface 54 provides support for the weight of the assembly 10. Similarly, the front edge of the retaining member 62 functions to hold the upper portion of the bracket 14 flush against the supporting wall board.

It will be appreciated that there is provided in accordance with the present invention a system for displaying greeting cards on a display tray which may be mounted alternatively on conventional perforated wall board or upon conventional vertical standards and a novel bracket for providingv that result. The degree of flexibility of this arrangement is of great advantage to retailers who wish to vary arrangements of display areas and may wish alternatively to place displays on walls covered with perforated wall board or on vertical standards which may be mounted either upon walls, woodwork or, as if often the case in modern retailing, on oor fixtures. The method of securing the bracket of the assembly to these alternative support is the same in each case, requiring no special skills or manual dexterity, the performance of these devices is positive and reliable and the expense is relatively low.

Although there has been only one illustrative example of the concept of the present invention disclosed herein, design features differing from the specific example shown herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims should be construed in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A greeting card display assembly for mounting on vertical supports of both the perforated wall board type and the vertical standard type, said assembly comprising a display tray and a pair of mounting brackets secured to said tray, each of said brackets including a duplex attachment means for attachment to vboth perforated wall board and vertical standards, said duplex attachment means including a lower section having a land portion extending rearwardly from said bracket and a hook portion extending downwardly from said lower section land portion, and an upper section having a land portion extending rearwardly from said bracket an amount equal to said lower section land portion and an elongated retainer portion extending upwardly from said upper section land portion, the lower edges of said respective land portions being spaced from each other in an amount corresponding to the spacing vbetween the lower edges of the opening in said vertical standards and the holes in said perforated wall board, the length of said elongated retainer portion being greater than the vertical length of the opening in said vertical standards.

2. A greeting card assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said display tray has a bottom wall, a rear wall and a front wall the height of which is less than the height of said rear wall.

3. A greeting card assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said display tray has a bottom wall, a rear wall and a front wall constructed of a transparent material and l which is of a height less than said rear wall.

4. A greeting card assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said brackets each are constructed of two pivotally interconnected members for tilting said display tray with respect to said vertical supports and further including indexing means between said two members for fixing the angular relationship between said display trays and said vertical support.

5. A greeting card display assembly in accordance with claim l wherein said display tray comprises an elongated trough adapted to receive greeting cards and wherein each of said brackets is formed of two pivotally interconnected members, one of which includes said duplex attachment means and the other of which is connected to said display tray, said brackets having indexing means for fixing the angular relationship between the two members thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 945,280 1/1910 Lindberg 248-242 2,305,244 12/ 1942 Erickson 108--96 X 2,768,043 10/1956 Kristo" et al. l08-52 X 3,021,961 2/1962 Ruhnke 108--31 X 3,162,148 12/1964 Ganz 108-10 3,193,225 7/1965 Terlinde 24S-223 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GREETING CARD DISPLAY ASSEMBLY FOR MOUNTING ON VERTICAL SUPPORTS OF BOTH THE PERFORATED WALL BOARD TYPE AND THE VERTICAL STANDARD TYPE, SAID ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A DISPLAY TRAY AND A PAIR OF MOUNTING BRAKETS SECURED TO SAID TRAY, EACH OF SAID BRACKETS INCLUDING A DUPLEX ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR ATTACHMENT TO BOTH PERFORATED WALL BOARD AND VERTICAL STANDARDS, SAID DUPLEX ATTACHMENT MEANS INCLUDING A LOWER SECTION HAVING A LAND PORTION EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM SAID BRACKET AND A HOOK PORTION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID LOWER SECTION LAND PORTION, AND AN UPPER SECTION HAVING A LAND PORTION EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM SAID BRACKET AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO SAID LOWER SECTION LAND PORTION AND AN ELONGATED RETAINER PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID UPPER SECTION LAND PORTION, THE LOWER EDGES OF SAID RESPECTIVE LAND PORTIONS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER IN AN AMOUNT CORRESPONDING TO THE SPACING BETWEEN THE LOWER EDGES OF THE OPENING IN SAID VERTICAL STANDARDS AND THE HOLES IN SAID PERFORATED WALL BOARD, THE LENGTH OF SAID ELONGATED RETAINER PORTION BEING GREATER THEN THE VERTICAL LENGTH OF THE OPENING IN SAID VERTICAL STANDARDS. 